Shades of Blue
by Mew Universe
Summary: Standing out by the lake on a sunny day, Fakir hears an Arthurian legend from an old storyteller that turns out to be the key to turning Ahiru back into a human girl. Written for the 2011 Fakiru Week on deviantArt.


Being lakeside after rain truly was a wonder. The wind was still, the sky almost cloudless. Dew sparkled on the grass and trees, making their shades of green more vibrant, and the lake shone a deep sapphire blue in the bright midday sun. However, Fakir wasn't focusing on his surroundings. Instead, he stood on the shore, hands in his pockets, and watched Ahiru as she whacked at cattails with her beak and wings. He smiled at the happy quacks she made as she amused herself with the long grasses. One particular cattail caught her interest, and she ducked her head into the bundle of cattails to pluck it out from the middle. She pulled as hard as she could while slapping her webbed feet furiously in the water. Suddenly she flopped back into the water with the weed in her beak.

Fakir laughed. "You could have grabbed a different one and saved yourself the embarrassment," he teased.

Ahiru quacked in protest despite the cattail stem in her mouth, even coming to shore to whack Fakir in the ankles with the weed. He watched her for a moment, still smiling, and then tried to take it away from her. She splashed back into the water before he could. He chuckled, watching her hide in the water grasses.

"You seem quite attached to that duck, young man," an elderly voice next to him said. Fakir turned and saw a man standing there with his hands in his pockets. The man wore brown trousers and a brown jacket, a fedora sitting atop his short white hair. A sky blue bowtie popped out from his shirt collar. "It comes right up to you. Is it tame?"

"She is," Fakir corrected with a moody look. "She used to talk too, actually, a while ago." _Almost too long ago_, he thought sadly.

The man chuckled, his laugh a deep rumbling sound. "Oh, I've seen far stranger things than talking ducks in my lifetime. I remember the things old Drosselmeyer used to conjure up when he was alive." He clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Crazy author…" His eyes gazed out over the water.

"Yeah," Fakir mumbled, keeping his eyes out at where Ahiru was. _Why must I be reminded of that mad man?_

Silence drifted between them for several moments. Then, the man, while still looking out at the lake, said, "There is one strange thing I have never seen in my many years, however."

"And what is that?" Fakir asked flatly.

"The lady of the lake."

Fakir turned and raised an eyebrow as he looked at the man.

The man glanced over at Fakir and laughed heartily. "Never heard that story, boy?" When Fakir didn't reply, he continued, looking out over the water, "There's an old tale about this lake. Hundreds of years ago, a mighty king ruled over much of the land. He was a king chosen by fate when he drew a powerful sword from a stone, a task no man could complete, yet he did as a mere boy. After drawing the sword, he was appointed king and began to establish peace. Unfortunately, the king lost the sword in a great battle, and when he found it again it was cut in two."

Fakir found himself entranced by the man's – the storyteller's – compelling words. When the storyteller paused, Fakir asked, "What does that have to do with the lake?"

"Patience, young man, and I will tell you," the storyteller chided with a gentle smile. "With the sword rendered useless, the king needed a new weapon befitting his status and honor. His advisor, the wizard of the land, told the king he knew of such a weapon. The wizard then led the king to this very lake." He paused, turning and staring at Fakir for the first time in his tale-telling, his icy-blue eyes freezing Fakir in place. "The wizard summoned the lady of the lake with his magic."

"How?" Fakir breathed.

"I do not know, for that was never very clear," the storyteller replied. "All I know is that he did. A mist covered the lake as the wizard worked his magic so the king could not see him. Then, a hand emerged from the lake, holding a sword the color of lightening. The king took the sword, and the hand vanished. That was the lady of the lake."

Silence let the words sink into Fakir's mind. Then, he asked the storyteller, "Why did the lady not show herself?"

"She rarely does reveal herself to mortal men, but legend claims she is the keeper of items of great magic. As far as I recall, she has great power of her own, as well. If she judges a person in great need to be of pure heart and mind, she will grant them their greatest wish."

The elderly storyteller's words sank into Fakir's mind. His eyes slowly widened, and his jaw fell slack in realization. "The lady of the lake," he muttered. "That's it!" he exclaimed. "Ahiru!"

"Quack?" Ahiru replied, looking up at him from the cattails.

"Don't go anywhere, I'll be right back!" he told her, holding a finger up. Before Ahiru could react, Fakir was running away from the lake back towards his house.

"Quack?" Ahiru said to herself, blinking in confusion. She watched him leave then looked at the storyteller. Surprisingly, the man simply took off his fedora and walked away, leaving Ahiru completely alone. _Fakir must have had a streak of inspiration,_ Ahiru thought, looking in the direction Fakir had run towards. _I hope he gets back soon._ Blue eyes mournful, she quacked to herself as she drifted in the water.

It took her several moments to realize that fog was beginning to build around her. _Fog? In the middle of the afternoon?_ She looked around in fright, then began to quack and flap her wings as she thought, _What's going on? Is Fakir doing this? Fakir!_

Suddenly, a bright light shone behind her through the thick fog. Turning around, Ahiru stared at the light. As if mesmerized, she paddled her webbed feet in the water, slowly drawing nearer to the oval of light.

"Quack!" Ahiru cried out, wings flapping wildly and splashing water everywhere. In the center of the light was a woman standing on the water in bare feet.

* * *

**The lady of the lake stood before the duck,** Fakir wrote. **Her skin was pale like the moon, her hair darker than a starless night. She was clothed in a dress as blue as the lake, the garment trimmed in silver. Her golden eyes met the duck's blue eyes, and she gave the duck a kind smile, for she knew of the duck's kind and gentle heart. She then asked…**

* * *

"What is your heart's greatest desire?"

Ahiru blinked and tilted her head to one side. "Qua?"

"I will grant to you one wish, whatever you desire most above all else," the lady said.

_One wish? Whatever I want most?_ Ahiru thought with a small quack.

"Yes, Ahiru," the lady replied. "Whatever it is you want the most."

Ahiru quacked, _"How do you know my name?"_

The lady knelt on the water's surface and touch Ahiru's head. "I have seen into your heart. I learned your name and know of the light of hope within you. What you have done for this town – for the characters of the story now ended – merits a gift." She began to stroke Ahiru's head, the flowing hem of her sleeve brushing against the water.

Ahiru looked at the lady and smiled back – as best as she could with a duck bill – then looked down and let the smile vanish. _"Well…" _she softly quacked.

"You do not need to feel shy. I have no limit to what I can do for you," the lady said. "Simply ask."

Her eyes on the silvery-blue water, the little duck was silent and contemplative.

* * *

"Oh, c'mon, Ahiru," Fakir muttered, his pen scratching away. On the paper, he wrote, **The duck was torn. Her first thought was that she was happy being a duck. Life was simpler, and she always had something new or interesting to do with little to worry about. Then, she thought of the knight, the noble warrior **– "Yeah right, I'm a warrior. I couldn't even kill anyone to protect Mytho." – **and storyteller that remained by her side even after the story had ended. She thought of him and his kindness and loyalty beneath a layer of aloofness and stoicism. She thought of him and how much she loved him.**

**Again, the lady of the lake asked her what her greatest desire was. The duck looked up and told her…**

* * *

_"I want to be with Fakir forever… but I'm not sure how I want it to work out,"_ Ahiru admitted sheepishly.

Nodding, the lady lowered her hand from Ahiru's head. "I understand. You were born a duck, and as such you are a duck, but you also feel human and still have those emotions within you."

_"Yes!" _Ahiru exclaimed, flapping her wings. _"And I promised Fakir I'd return to being a duck after helping the prince, and I do like being a duck, but…" _She paused mid-flap, then lowered her wings to her sides. _"Yet, I don't… feel this is how it should be anymore."_

"Because of your love for the knight," the lady affirmed. Ahiru nodded and quacked. With a gentle smile gracing her soft features, she reached into the water with one hand. Her arm stirred the water once in a small circle. Electric blue light emanated from her hand under the water; Ahiru watched with her head tilted slightly.

Slowly the lady lifted her hand out of the water. Intertwined between her fingers was a deep sky blue ribbon, and hanging from the ribbon was an oval sapphire pendant. "This is my gift to you – the gift of a future with loyalty and love." She fastened the ribbon around Ahiru's neck, tying the ends together into a bow on the back of her neck. "Wear this, and you will become human. Have your love wear it, and he will become a duck."

"Quaaack?!" _"Whaaaaat?"_ Ahiru exclaimed.

Standing, the lady of the lake began to drift away from Ahiru. "Do not remove the pendant from your neck for three days, and the spell will be complete." The mists grew thick around her then a bright blue light appeared and sunk into the lake. When the mists parted, they revealed that the lady had returned to the lake's depths.

Bill slack, Ahiru stared at the spot for several moments. _What was that- Ah!_ She quacked in alarm as the pendant began to glow a celestial blue. _Just like the prince's heart shard…_ It enveloped her, lifting her above the lake.

Her wings became arms. New hands flexed their fingers. Her legs became long and slender. Webbed duck feet became small feet with toes. Her round body molted its feathers as it grew and developed curves. Her bill vanished, leaving lips and a nose tinted blue from cold. Long light red hair grew from her head, braiding itself down her back. The light wrapped itself like cloth around her torso and thighs as she opened her now human eyes.

The light burst, then vanished. It left a girl with wide blue eyes standing on the water wearing an azure ballerina dress and matching pointe shoes. The blue ribbon was a choker on her neck, the sapphire pendant gleaming from where it hung on it. Ahiru just stood there in a basic ballet pose, partially out of habit and partially in confused shock. She looked down at her dance, then at her puffed sleeves on her shoulders. Raising her hand in front of her, she slowly flexed her fingers. She started to quack in alarm, then slapped her other hand over her mouth to cut off the sound.

It was several moments before she lowered her arms and begin to smile. She laughed, spinning in a familiar ballet move she'd practiced many times, both as a human and as a duck. "This is great!" Ahiru exclaimed, leaping and spinning and dancing with all the energy in her being. "I'm human! I'm a person! I can dance better than when I was a duck! I have to show Fakir…"

She stopped mid-spin, steadying herself as she lowered her leg. "Fakir… Where did he go?" she wondered, looking about. The mists looked grey and gloomy about her, making her heart sink. "Fakir? Fakir!" she yelled out, running on the lake's surface. "FAKIR!"

* * *

**The young girl cried out for the knight, her knight. She called out his name, hoping he would hear and return to her.**

"FAKIR!"

Fakir jumped at the sound of Ahiru's voice. He continued to write with a shaking hand. **The knight heard his name carried to him on the wind, and he recognized the cry of his beloved. Without a moment's hesitation he ran out to the lake to catch her into his arms, never to let her go again.**

Once the last word escaped his pen, Fakir threw it onto the desk and knocked his chair over as he stood up. He grabbed his royal blue jacket as he ran out the door. "I'm coming, Ahiru. I'm coming!"

* * *

_Final._

* * *

Author's comments below

MU: Well, here's what is technically the second half of my earlier story, "Right Words to a Happy Ending". However, since it also works as a stand-alone story, I posted it separate from that other story. This is also the story I wrote for Day 1's prompt, "Blue", of Fakiru Week hosted over on deviantArt in September of 2011. I'll post the rest of the prompt-inspired fics from Fakiru Week in my profile sometime before the 2012 Fakiru Week begins.

Feel free to comment on or critique this story if you so choose. :)


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